


The Holiday Hoodie

by FruitfulMind



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Max's parents are assholes, Parent Gwen and David, but it's Camp Camp what do you expect, holiday story set after Parents' Day, slight AU, there's some cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 11:39:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13122978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FruitfulMind/pseuds/FruitfulMind
Summary: It's a holiday AU for Camp Camp! David gifts Max something handmade, but what he doesn't expect is Max to run away. Will Gwen be able to  find Max and calm him down?





	The Holiday Hoodie

David hummed happily as he teetered on his feet, listening as the campers opened their presents; each of them excitedly gushed over what they'd gotten. Gwen stood beside him, her normally sour look replaced with a slight smile.

Neil, Nikki, and Max sat around each other, the latter not really giving a damn about the holiday. His nerdy friend spoke up, though with uncertainty, "Max?" There's a gift with your name on it." He said, pointing to the red wrapped gift lying on its side.

"Huh?" He blankly said, looking at the present in question. He walked over to it, giving it a quick shake. Nothing rattled inside, though there was the rustling of something.

"Ooh!" Nikki crooned, "open it up!" She shouted, practically foaming at the mouth, her hands already reaching for the gift. Max barely held her back, ripping at the bright red wrapping paper with his free hand.

As he hovered over the box, he stared into it with a slightly excited, if not weirded out look. "It's... what the fuck?" He asked, his expression transforming to that of confusion.

David had already moved behind the campers, his cheerful voice ringing out, "happy holidays, Max!" Max rolled his eyes, picking up the gift to further inspect it.

"What's this?" Max asked, lifting up the hoodie for David to look at.

"Why, it's a gift Max!" David said, still smiling. He blinked a bit, asking, "don't you like it?"

The child chose to ignore his question, instead studying the counselor's face. Max sighed, then looked David in the eyes. "Okay," he said, steeling himself. "What's the catch?"

"Catch?" David blinked, caught off guard. "Don't be silly, there's no catch!"

Max remained quiet, staring at the eerily familiar hoodie. He didn't know how the bastard found an identical hoodie to his usual one, but Max _hated_ it. He flipped the hoodie over and stared at the front, biting his tongue before anything spilled out. Staring back at him we're the words, 'I  <3 my camp counselor!' with a heart sewn into the fabric. Max looked up to David's expectant face, feeling unfamiliar with the feeling bubbling inside of him. Silently, he jumped to his feet and pushed past David and everyone else, the door to the mess hall slamming shut behind him with a thundering boom. He shouted over his shoulder, "Christmas is a dumb holiday, anyway!"

Watching the scene play out, the female counselor sighed heavily. It looked like she'd be need to play damage control to them again. Briefly, she wondered if she reacted similarly when David first made a gift for her. She turned to speak to David, greeted by his crestfallen face. Immediately, she felt terrible. "David..." She begun to say, but stopped, unable to think of what to say.

David stared at the door. "Was it that bad?" David softly asked.

"What? No-- David, he's just a kid." Gwen fought the need to roll her eyes. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "He'll come back."

"I didn't think he'd react so badly," he said, rubbing his untouched arm. He glanced forlornly around, worry eating him up; was Max okay, was he hurt?

This was giving Gwen deja vu. Especially Max's initial reaction of confusion at the gift. But what... suddenly, it hit her. "Hey? Do you remember the first time I got a gift from you?" She asked. She saw the corner of David's lip quirk upwards, and knew it was brightening his mood.

David peeked up to her. "Do I! You wouldn't stop staring at it all day!"

"I mentioned I liked the show _once_ , David." She fought the want to roll her eyes. "And you went and made a handkerchief."

The David she knew was slowly coming back as he tilted his chin up, a singing lilt, "and you wore it every day."

"Yeah," she hummed out. "Maybe the kid will be the same way." She hoped that would be the case. It took a while to gain his trust. She didn't want to have lost it again due to a stupid thing like a hoodie.

A sudden cough sounded, and both counselors looked down, a ticked off Neil greeting them. "Uh, the reminiscing is really nice, but..." He looked up at Gwen and David, annoyed. "My friend is missing?!"

Gwen's eyes grew wide and she slammed her hand to her face, "aw, shit." David stared at her in horror. He moved forward, but stopped suddenly from Gwen's hand. "I'll do it," she said. He made a surprised noise, meeting her eyes. "He's not going to want to see you." She said, walking to the exit of the mess hall as she began her search for the lost camper.

He wasn't in his bunk, or hiding near the post. She'd even walked to the lake, but there was no sign of the angry child. Her eyes glanced warily towards the car, which was thankfully that was still in place; she could use it to check the town. Just as she started walking towards it, a loud noise rang out towards her left. Something had fallen over in the abandoned shed; no one had been in there since the incident involving a bear and-- She shuddered thinking of it, spinning on her heel as she walked towards the shed. The door creaked as she tried to open it, resorting to pushing her full body weight against it to open it. Finally, it opened, the tiny ray of light from outside showcasing the dust particles that flew up. She coughed, trekking forward.

"Max?" She called out, squinting in the dimly lit shed. Her hand batted at the string for the hanging light in their, finally pulling it down. The light brightened the entire shed, helping Gwen spot the tiny huddled shape of Max. "Kid?" She asked, stepping forwards.

"Go. Away." The voice said, followed by a few muffled snuffles. Gwen frowned, her usually callous heart breaking.

"Hey," she mumbled, walking closer to Max. She noticed the way he turned away from her, and made himself look smaller; he did this whenever some got too close to him. Honestly, she was beginning to understand more about him and why he did certain things. "I'm not going to yell at you." She said.

Max's face peeked up from the hoodie, suspicion on his features. "You're not?" He asked with an edge of uncertainty, his eyes looking right through her. "Am I in an alternate universe?" He sarcastically said.

"I wish, I'd be rich if we were." Gwen sardonically replied. It made Max smile a bit, and it made Gwen feel good. The smile quickly disappeared though.

"Why are you all being so nice to me?" He asked, his light green eyes staring at the floor. He studied the floor for the longest time, only taking breaks to look up to see if Gwen was going to say something.

She studied Max. Had her opinion on Max really changed so much after the Parents' Day event? She had a better understanding of his actions, and he was warming up to both her and David. David especially.

"Because, kid. That's what family does."

Max stared up at her, his mouth opening to say something. Fresh tears prickled the corner of his eyes. "Fuck off." He spat off, but his venomous tone was missing; almost as if he was smiling while saying it.

She squatted beside Max, who had turned around now. He still was clutching the hoodie to him though, looking at it. "I get why you're upset."

"Hmm." Max hummed. "Isn't that part of your worthless degree? Knowing why people are upset?" Max spat, wrapping his arms around his legs.

"Watch it." She warned, pointing finger at him. She checked her ire before she furthered the kid's upset, inhaling and thinking as she chose her next words carefully. "David is overbearing, ("Hmm," Max replied), and he's a bit of an airhead ("Couldn't tell."). But," she sighed, half smiling at the kid. "He made you that gift because he cares."

Max remained quiet, no doubt running her words in his mind. "Well he doesn't need to." Max scornfully replied. "I never asked for this." His tiny fists gripped the fabric tighter, holding it closer to him.

"You didn't have to." She replied, relaxing beside the boy. She sighed, and a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "When I first got here, he made me a gift." She noticed how Max's eyes drifted to hers, and his little smirk returned. "Oh, so that you listen to," she said, returning to her tale, "it was a Professor Where handkerchief. I never asked for it, but... David knew." What she didn't tell him was her burning question as to how David even knew it was her birthday.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is... just try not being a dick to him," she said, looking to Max. "He's new to this, and he probably thought you'd really like the gift." She didn't want to say, 'I know you do, given how you haven't let it go.' because knowing Max, he'd throw it in a bonfire, and that'd be a whole other mess to deal with. "You don't have to like it, just don't be a dick." She got up from her spot, stretching to help Max up. "Come on, it's getting late. Everyone's probably worried."

Getting up, Max looked up to her. He stretched his arm, grabbing onto her hand. Her eyebrows flexed, but she said nothing as they returned to the mess hall. The moment they got to the post, Max let go of her hand, neither of them mentioning what happened.

The next morning, David woke up, greeting the wonderful morning with a smile. He marched out of the cabin with a spring of his step, greeting everyone. "Gooooood morning, campers--" He stopped suddenly, a tiny gasp escaping as he smiled brightly at Max's hoodie. When he turned to Gwen excitedly, his eyes grew wide, looking at the handkerchief around her neck; David wouldn't stop smiling for the rest of the day.


End file.
